Posnanski and the Paterno book

Very courageous of Boers to tell us now he knew all along Paterno was a fraud, as opposed to, say, years ago. Rack him with a killer take.

 

How do you know he hasn't been saying that all along?

 

Media, Jackson take a licking

Publication: Chicago Sun-Times
Date: August 14, 1989
Author: Terry Boers
Section: SPORTS
Edition: FIVE STAR SPORTS FINAL
Page: 2
Word Count: 636

The time has come to clear up a few troublesome matters.
Within the last month or so I've watched some big-league
bashing of sports journalists on several fronts. At the same time,
on a far less serious note, I've seen some respected baseball writers go a bit overboard in regard to the play of Bo Jackson. Worst things first.
The initial blow aimed at the media was delivered the day before the All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium.
That's when a glove belonging to San Diego's Tony Gwynn, who's one of the good guys, turned up missing after he'd left it on the bench during a workout.
Gwynn, without batting an eye, said, "Somebody in the media stole my glove. There were no fans there. So it had to be media people. This is the worst security I've ever seen."
It's possible Gwynn was right. But it's just as possible the glove was swiped by a security officer or by one of the many unauthorized personnel who I'm told were milling around the field.
A few days later, former California relief pitcher Donnie Moore shot his wife before committing suicide in his Anaheim Hills, Calif., home.
When asked to reflect on the tragic event, Angels designated hitter Brian Downing erupted. "You (sportswriters) destroyed a man's life over one pitch (in the '86 playoffs)," Downing said. "You buried the guy. He was never treated fairly. He was never given credit for all the good things he did. I never, ever saw the guy credited for getting us to the playoffs."
All of Downing's vicious harangue, which was delivered to any number of journalists who probably had never so much as written a word about Moore, cannot be printed. Suffice to say it was cruel and senseless and lacking in understanding, given the fact that other close friends suggest Moore's agony was strictly self-inflicted.
I realize that Downing might have let his emotion get out of hand, but to my knowledge he hasn't apologized.
And, as if being called thieves and murderers isn't enough, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno says in his
soon-to-be-published book that reporters have brought a negative tone to the sports pages and have increased the tendency for spectators to jeer poor performances and bet on college football.
I respect Paterno, but that's such an incredibly stupid statement it's barely worth acknowledging. If anyone has helped bring a negative tone to the sports pages, it's the athletes and the coaches themselves.
No reporter sent into the cesspool that college athletics has become is going to come out smelling - or writing - like a rose. He will, however, likely emerge with a better understanding of crime, punishment, cheating, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll.
With the defense portion of my argument out of the way, it's time to join the great Bo Jackson debate.
Culminating with his performance in the All-Star Game, Action Jackson, who just came off the disabled list, has become one of the most discussed, most lionized athletes in recent memory.
I agree that Jackson's combination of raw power and pure speed is awe-inspiring, and I would concede that the now-famous throw he made from the left-field wall to the plate on the fly to cut down a runner earlier this season might be the best I've ever seen.
But the time has come to put Jackson's accomplishments in their proper perspective. When you do, you'll realize that he shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath with Willie Mays or Hank Aaron or Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle, as he has been.Bobby Bonds in 1970.
Before we set aside a spot for Jackson in Coopers-town, it would be nice to see him become more consistent, overcome his many weaknesses at the plate and play about 10 more years at an even higher level.
Jackson might be able to do that, but it will never, ever happen unless he gives up pro football.

 

I get that it's not exactly a full repudiation of Paterno and everything he stood for, but 33 years ago, the guy did have the guts to call out Paterno for something - which no one else was doing at the time.

And it's certainly not this: “This book will tell the remarkable story about a man who could have been anything but decided that the best way he could help change America was one college football player at a time.”

 

No one gets credit for "killing Penn State" after Nov. 5, 2011. Fish in a barrel.

And this

doesn't prove or identify Paterno as a fraud. It points out that college football is a sump of money and corruption - which we've all known since 1899 or so - and that Paterno's answer to the question of 'why' is different than his own.

I have to agree with DD here. Identifying a college football coach as being human hardly qualifies as insight.

 

Relative to another - others, really, to be perfectly fair to Posnanski - that practically identified him as a deity? I think it does.

 

And if he does, the response will be, "Awwww, what happened? Did Paterno blow off your request for an interview?"

Can we be any more predictable?

But hey, there is another coach out there who gets royal treatment for doing things the "right"way for decades. Looking forward to reading about the "real" Mike Krzyzewski someday. Somewhere other than SportsJournalists.com, of course.

But I won't hold my breath.

 

I only ever came across 2-3 other writers that saw through Paterno. Most didn't bother to look that hard. Many wanted to believe, wanted desperately to believe. Others just saw it as an easy piece to knock out.

 

I would rather listen to Starman and TigerVols debate Republican policy for 72 straight hours than listen to Boers and Bernstein talk about anything for 5 minutes. They're terrible.

 

Nobody else was doing at the time? Not true. There just weren't many, and no one wanted to hear.

 

I haven't seen much "worshipful" about Joe Paterno in over a decade. To me, it's been "Jesus H. Retire already. This old sack of shit refuses to let go." Read some of the old Paterno threads here pre-scandal.

Heading into the project Posnanski seemed to have been trying to bring back the reverence.

My question is, if the country thought he needed to hang it up, the Penn State Board hated him, and the university President was tired of his shit... Why was he still in there? God knows he wasn't really coaching anymore.

Paterno had quite the little machine keeping him going. And I worry that it was that same machine that brought Posnanski into the fold.

 

The lovefest during the most recent Rose Bowl season, particularly after Paterno told the story of how the administration came over to get rid of him and he told them to shove it up their arse, was as fawning and all-encompassing as anything that had happened in his entire career.